There were no public health laws in Ankh-Morpork. It would be like installing smoke detectors in Hell.
«Feet of Clay» by Terry Pratchett
Given the recent Gaza-related protests, there seem to be the view that they are either about oppressed Palestinians or terrorist Hamas.
I wonder, what would happen if someone would hold up a coexist sign at these protests? For example, this one here (by Piotr Mlodozeniec):
One way or the other, it might serve as a litmus test (wear a GoPro and use live streaming).
It’s not perfect, though. Peaceful protests could object to the sign as it does not include all religions. Terrorist sympathizers might not object and see the sign holders as useful idiots … (for the moment).
As for the conflict itself, I cannot help but wonder whether the Palestinians aren’t just used as pawns by some other states in that area to bait Israel with terror attacks. Once Israel overreacts and glasses Gaza, they would have a «plausible» justification to destroy Israel. A bit like the fraud triangle — you need a motif (power, influence), the opportunity (improved armies/weapon systems, enemy has weak overstretched allies), and a rationalization (religion, justice for a genocide if the Palestinians are wiped out). Plus, as long as they exist other countries can point to them and say that they are not as bad as them.
From a systems perspective it would make sense, would also fit an indirect religious war perspective. And yeah, I can completely understand the desire to turn Gaza into a parking lot. Especially considering you have at least one generation poisoned by hate, so simply removing Hamas would not be enough.
But genocide is not an option. Not only, as Pratchett put it somberly, «History has a way of repaying.». There is the parallel with Nazi Germany and there might have been justification to just kill every German and call it a day. Well, at least there were dissidents and those who did not know about it. And I agree with Douglas Murray, at least the Nazi’s weren’t (usually) gleeful about their atrocities. They tried to commit genocide in secret. Currently, Hamas does not have the power to conduct a Holocaust, but they sure would like too. And they kill with glee. So they might even beat the Nazis in atrocities — not impossible considering today’s technology. But genocide still would not be a valid choice, after all, it’s a collective punishment and there are innocent people who would be killed as well.
But hey, what the hell do I know … I just think that freedom is essential to solve our world’s problems. Having it constrained by ideology (e.g., political correctness/so-called social justice/woke), religion (e.g., islamic extremism), politics (e.g., one-world government), etc. pp. will severely limit our chances to survive. And there is also the issue of not allowing everything: If people do not adhere to the basic rules of social conduct — e.g., if they try to solve conflicts with violence, if they trying to kill those who think different — then freedom has to be defended. The time to do so is now.
Currently it’s Israel that is standing in the way of these extremists, while Europe and the USA are currently being infiltrated, which might cut off Israel’s support in the future. If Israel falls, the extremists won’t stop there.
So, just my two cents when dealing with freedom and creativity, although addressing this topic might be jumping the shark.
